Just Let Me Go (Robbie FerrierOC)
by xdvdxs.sdmn
Summary: "You have to let me go. I want to fight. Please! I have to see this. Just let me go!" "I can't." BASED ON THE WAR OF THE WORLDS MOVIE
1. Chapter 1

**Hey. :) Feel free to criticize and point out errors. My OC is a little different as you'll soon find out. Sorry if I can't get all the dialogue correct. Thanks. Enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN WAR OF THE WORLDS.**

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Chapter 1

 _"Is the world not a beautiful place? Is it not?"_ I cannot help but wonder. Currently, I was sitting outside on my front lawn, gazing out at civilization, a discarded book sitting in my lap.

My eyes study the ordinary citizens going about their everyday lives, unaware of my scrutiny. A group of boys stood nearby the church, over on Lincoln avenue. My eyes lingered on them for a few seconds before moving on. Little did these people know as to what I did. Something was going to happen. Something bad. I could feel it. Call it a sixth sense if you wish but I could tell when something bad was going to happen and, right now, my senses were screaming at me.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and a growing feeling of restlessness settled in the pit of my stomach. It was starting.

Storm clouds gathered up in the sky, a sea of dark grey fluff. It seemed as though they were being pulled towards something and, further inspection of it, revealed a large black circle in the center. A flash of lightning came down from it and a few people yelled out in surprise. Curiosity sparked my interest as I wondered why there had been no thunder. A second flash came down in the exact same spot. _"Strange."_ I thought. Lightening doesn't usually do that. Confusion mingled in with my curiosity as I counted twenty-six times lightening flashes in total.

Mind wandering in thought, my eyes settled, once again, on the group of boys by the church. One in particular stood out to me and for some unknown reason I couldn't take my eyes off of him. His brows were furrowed in confusion as his grey eyes studied the sky, thinking, whilst his friends started conversation about the recent events.

I don't know if he felt my eyes upon him or whatnot for the next second his gaze fell onto me. Our eyes locked, grey on grey, and that was it, I struggled to breath as the whole world seemed to slow down. Some kind of connection seemed to form between us, I could sense it. _"What was happening? This has never happened before."_ My body felt tingly and jittery as our eyes stayed in the same position for a full five seconds before I had the decency to glance away.

I pretended to be reading my book for a minute. The next moment I looked up at him, he had moved on, conversing with his friends. Strangely, I yearned for him to look at me, or even glance in my direction. I felt as though I recognized him as he looked slightly familiar. Racking my brains for an answer, I came to a conclusion that, at the moment, he wasn't familiar.

Slightly disappointed when I saw he was leaving, I continued to finish off my job of scrutinizing my surroundings. My stomach still churned with fear and worry when I realized that the lightening wasn't going to be the last of the unusual events taking place.

Heading indoors for the day, I sighed at the deserted environment of my house.

My dad thought of me as weird. The fact that I could predict things and feel slight changes freaked him out when I told him at the age of fourteen. Ever since then he's abandoned me, left me to fend for myself and hardly ever spoke to me. It was like I was no longer considered his daughter and I didn't belong. Then again, I didn't belong anywhere.

Glancing up at the clock, I saw there was still five more hours before my he arrived home. I sighed when I saw his packed lunch still sitting on the kitchen counter. Mulling it over in my thoughts, I decided to go take it to him at his workplace. My father owned a garage. It was quite worn down but made good business, which isn't what you would think at first sight.

About an hour later, I pulled on my jacket, grabbed my dad's packed lunch and stepped out the door. Walking briskly down the street, the anxiety in my stomach grew to the point I almost felt like crying. It was nearly painful. I'd never felt like this before and, quite frankly, it terrified me. I carefully monitored my surroundings, watching everything for strange or unlikely behavior.

Of course, the feeling immediately intensified when I noticed a massive metal machine with tentacle-like legs up ahead in the distance. Screams and shouts erupted when blue lasers started hitting everyone, reducing them to ash. People scrambled about, running, trying to escape into safety but it was useless. Humans were dying left, right and center.

My breathing increased to the point I was hyperventilating as I continued to run towards my father's garage. Sprinting would be an understatement to describe the way folks tried to protect their lives.

Panic built up inside of me and I wanted to scream to let it all out but I couldn't, my jaws were clenched and refused to open up.

Once the garage was in sight, I skidded to a halt by the entrance and stopped to observe the current situation. My father was arguing with Ray Ferrier - who was occupying the front seat of a car which I'm quite sure was not his. My dad was standing by the passenger door which was held open by - hey, now I recognize him! Ray Ferrier's son, Robbie Ferrier. My heart jumped at the sight of him.

I hurriedly made my way towards them, wary of what was going on outside. I'm pretty sure I looked a sight: fear, worry and panic painted all over my face.

"Ra- Melody? What are you doing here?" My dad asked me.  
"Dad, please, we have to get away, please, it's not safe."  
"What the hell are you talking about?"  
"D-Dad, the machines, they're killing everyone, w-we have to get AWAY!" My voice rose to a scream to the end of my sentence. A few tears slipped out of my eyes and left two tracks down my cheeks. I noticed everybody staring at me: my father, Ray, Robbie and a small girl in the back of the car (most likely Rachel). She let out a small whimper.  
"Bullshit, Melody. I don't know what the heck you're talking about but stop lying." Ouch. I looked down at the ground as a couple more tears left my eyes at the trust my father put in me. Absolutely none. By the time I looked back up he had resumed his quarrel with Ray.

"Come on, Ray, don't do this."  
"Get in, Manny. Bring your daughter too."  
"Ray, I'm serious, get out the car."  
"Get in, Manny, or DIE."  
"Right, that's it, get ou-"  
"Shut the door, Robbie, SHUT THE DOOR!"

The passenger door slammed shut in my father's face just before one of the blue lasers hit him. I screamed as I watched my father deplete into ash. No matter if he had treated me like shit, he was still my dad.

I sank to my knees, cowering, crying, no longer caring if I died or not. I had nothing to live for. I had no one. I was an orphan. I rocked back and forth, my hands pulling at my hair as I sobbed over the ashes of my dad.

I was half aware of somebody bending over me, trying to speak to me. When they received no response, they sighed and arms wrapped around my waist and knees. A shot of electricity traveled through my body and brought me to my senses. I was being carried towards the car and was placed in the back seat. The door slammed shut and the person ran to the passenger seat.

It was only then that I became aware of the effect that Robbie's touch had on me. He had merely held me in his arms for a few seconds and already I was brought back into reality.

The car drove off, much higher than the speed limit, I'm sure. Although I had ceased my sobbing, a few tears continued to stray and I sat up properly in my seat. the girl beside me, Rachel, was screaming in shock as Ray yelled at us all to get down. I placed my body over Rachel's, protecting her with myself as Ray forced Robbie to get down. "HOLY SHIT!" He yelled in shock at the sight of a bridge collapsing over a few buildings.

The blue lasers hit all along a bridge forcing it to collapse onto the row of houses below, one of which was Ray's. Things were exploding behind us as giant jets of fire broke out everywhere. The car was swerving this way and that, throwing us all about. I lifted myself off of Rachel who was practically throwing a fit.

"Where are we going?" Robbie yelled.  
"We got to go. We got maybe the only working car around here. I'm not stopping till we're clear of it." Ray replied.  
"Clear of what?"  
"We got to go." Was his only reply.  
"What the hell is going on?!" Robbie exclaimed.  
"Look, you saw, we're under attack!"  
"By who?!" he screamed, "Who is attacking us?!"

I could barely hear them over Rachel's screaming. Despairing, I tried to get her to calm down but to no avail. She wouldn't pay any attention to me. Robbie's eyes met mine through the rear view mirror and, again, I felt the strange connection we had formed.

"Rachel? Rachel. You gotta keep it down. Rachel. Rachel. Shut up, Rachel!" Ray said, exasperated.  
"You're freaking her out!" Again, I tried to get Rachel to listen to me or even look at me but she was crying too hard.  
"Look, I'm driving! Do something!"

Robbie turned around and situated himself into the gap between the two front seats. He glanced at me for a moment before focusing on Rachel.

"Okay, put them up, Rach," he positioned his arms, "Make the arms." I watched carefully, in case I needed it for future reference.  
"This space, right here, is yours. This belongs to you, right?" He managed to get out over Rachel's wailing.  
"Yes." she replied.  
"You're safe in your space."  
"I'm safe in my space."  
"You're safe in your space." he repeated, " Nothing can happen to you in your space. Okay?"  
"I'm really scared."  
"I'm gonna go to the front seat, I'm gonna talk to Dad-"  
"No-"  
"I'll be two feet away, okay?"  
"Okay."  
"Will you hold my hand?"  
"Yes."  
"Will you hold my hand?" he repeated again.  
"Yes."  
"Will you be okay?"  
"Yes."

I admired the way he managed to calm her down. I could see how much trust and love Rachel had for her brother. We glanced at each other again and he motioned me towards Rachel. Understanding what he meant, I shifted myself closer to her held her tightly. She immediately reacted by burying her head in my neck which I took as a good thing.

He smiled slightly before turning back towards the front and stating "I wanna know everything you know." to Ray. Ray tried to explain what he had experienced but unfortunately, Robbie hadn't understood. "What is it? Is it terrorists?"  
"No, this came from someplace else." I could see Ray trying to remain calm.  
"What do you mean, like, Europe?"  
"No, Robbie, not like Europe!" He yelled causing Robbie to shut up for a bit.

After a few moments of silence Ray proceeded to tell Robbie what he knew. From listening in on their conversation, I discovered that we were heading to Tim and Mary Ann's residence (Rachel's mother and stepfather's place). I don't know what they planned to do with me, I was unwanted extra baggage. I understood that they had saved me but for what? What was I to them? Nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN WAR OF THE WORLDS.**

* * *

"I want Mom."  
"Yeah? Tell me about it, you know?"  
"I want Mom. Take me to Mom's."  
"I just need you to hold it together for me, okay?"  
"I want Mom!" Rachel yelled.  
"Shh, Rachel, calm down." I tried to soothe her while Ray was commenting on how he struggled to drive with her screaming like that.  
"TAKE ME TO MOM!" Her voice was practically screaming and I struggled to calm her. Robbie came back again and I moved over so he could sit next to Rachel. Immediately she quietened down and snuggled into his arm. I ached to have somebody comfort me like that. My stomach came alight with butterflies as my body felt his closeness.

Suddenly, I only just became aware of how exhausted I really was and next thing I knew I was fast asleep.

...

The slowing down of the car jolted me awake from my slumber at around dusk. My head was laying on some sort of soft pillow. Looking up, I blushed as I noticed it was Robbie's shoulder. Quickly, I glanced up at his face only to see him already examining me. Our eyes connected and I couldn't tear my gaze away, I was frozen.

He had beautiful grey - almost silver - eyes with flecks of blue around the pupil. A mixture of emotions clouded his eyes, I could easily read curiosity, fear and rebel but there was something else there too, something I couldn't really understand -

"Hey." His voice made me melt.  
"Hi." I managed to reply but it was somewhat small.  
"Good sleep?" He questioned. I could only nod in reply.  
"Cool." I smiled a little and tore my eyes away from his.  
"Are you... Are you okay?" He asked making me look back up at him again. I nodded once again. "Geez, you don't talk much do you?" A small laugh escaped me.  
"Sorry." I apologized. "I just don't have much practice talking is all." I veered my eyes towards my feet.  
He furrowed his brow. "Why not?"  
I furrowed my own brow in confusion also. "I... I don't know. I guess I didn't really have anybody to talk to..."  
"I can change that." I stared back up at him again.  
"Really?" He nodded in confirmation. "I... I'd like that." Smiles grew on both of our faces and once more we couldn't take our eyes off each other. The connection between us bloomed into something larger and made my heart race.

"Hurry up." Rachel's voice interrupted our examination of each other. A blush rose onto my cheeks as we redirected our gazes. "Hurry up, Dad, come on." I looked out of the window to see where we were. We had pulled into a rich, posh neighborhood with tamed gardens and sophisticated houses. _"Wow,"_ I thought. Their step-dad must be really rich.

The car slowed to a gentle halt and Rachel jumped out of the door and ran towards the house. "Mom! Mom!" Robbie followed after her and I opened my own door and stepped out. "Mom!" Robbie called out. I glanced back at Ray who stayed sitting in the driver's seat, watching after Robbie and Rachel. "Come on." I simply stated to him. His eyes fell on me and he nodded slowly. Grabbing the box of food from the passenger seat he stepped out and slammed the door behind him. Walking up to the large house, I could hear Rachel and Robbie seeking their Mom and step-dad.

Once I got to the main door, I stopped, not sure whether or not I was invited in. When I saw Ray casually pace inside and look around I decided I'd come that far, why not just enter? Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward, into the house, and closed the door behind me. _"Huh. Looks like the power's not out here."_

Rachel trampled down the steps towards us whereas Robbie walked slowly to join us. "They're gone." Ray said. It was a statement not a question.  
"Is she dead?" Asked Rachel, eyes wide, breathing heavily.  
"She's not dead. Alright? She's just not here. Okay? They were never here." He started walking to the kitchen.

Unsure of what to do, I took small steps behind them, looking around as I did so. Glancing behind him, Robbie saw me most likely looking lost and beckoned for to join them. Nodding, I fastened my pace till I was beside him.

"How do you know?" Robbie questioned.  
"Because they're on their way to Boston." He told them how they were probably at their Grandmother's house by now.  
"I'm gonna call her." Said Robbie, grabbing the house phone and dialing her number.

Proceeding to the kitchen, I listened to Ray trying to comfort Rachel with the calming technique Robbie used earlier without interest. I dully noted how he did it incorrectly, too busy staring at Robbie to actually care.

"You hungry? I'll get you some food. I'm gonna feed you. Get something to eat!" He tried to sound enthusiastic about it. He started lifted the food from the box and named them. "Ketchup. Mustard. Tabasco. Barbecue sauce. You know this is really good, Robbie. Vinaigrette. I said pack food, what the hell is this?"  
"That's all you had in your kitchen." He counter-argued taking a seat beside Rachel.  
"Okay. That's alright. Okay. Um..." Ray took a second to think, "Bread. Let's have some sandwiches." He searched for the bread and brought it over to the kitchen island. Tipping it out he counted, "Two for Rachel, two for Robbie, two for me and one for Melody." I didn't bother commenting on why I got less. I was used to being the least favorite.

Quietly, I observed how Ray started losing it as he fake chuckled and told them how he'd teach them to play poker. Snatching the peanut butter and a knife he dolloped a load of it onto a slice of bread and spread it. "I'm allergic to peanut butter," came from Rachel.  
"Since when?" Scoffed Ray.  
"Birth." She stated as though he were stupid.  
Staring at them he went on to say "Okay. Well. Here, you can eat the bread. Okay?"  
"I'm not hungry."  
"Okay, well. Robbie, Melody and I are gonna be eating peanut butter sandwiches. Want jelly on this sandwich?" He queried.  
"I'm not hungry either."  
"You're not hungry either? Okay. What about you, Melody?"  
Blushing as everybody turned to me, I looked down at the floor before replying "Sorry, Ray."  
He paused a second. "Okay. Fine." He snatched the bread slices up and threw the one covered in peanut butter at the window. He grabbed hold onto the kitchen counter and sighed, his back turned to us. I couldn't help but feel bad. He was under so much stress and we just made it even worse for him by acting immature. "Everything's gonna be fine."

He was still looking away when I met Robbie's gaze.

...

"If everything's fine why do we have to sleep in the basement?" Ray was growing annoyed with Rachel's consistent pestering and questioning. "We've got perfectly good beds." I was trailing behind Robbie, uncertain of what I should be doing. "Hey, it's like a slumber party." Ray answered.

I find that the smallest touch between us results in a shot of electricity or butterflies in my body. I couldn't understand it properly but I feel jittery around him. It was a good feeling.

Rachel started setting out her bed on the floor as did Robbie. "Here," I said, "I'll do it." He smiled as I grabbed the covers and set out two beds - one for me and one for him.

"What are you afraid is gonna happen to us?" Robbie interrogated.  
"Nice basement," was Ray's only reply. I scanned the room and agreed. Gym equipment was on side, bookshelves lined a few walls and laundry machines stood in the corner.  
"I wanna sleep in my own bed." Rachel again. "Got back problems." She looked up at Ray, awaiting his answer.  
"You know on the weather channel and there's gonna be tornadoes? They tell you to stay down the basement. It's like that, okay?"  
"There's gonna be tornadoes?" Her voice went higher towards the ends of the question.  
"Hey. No more talking. Okay?"  
"Could you be a little more nice to me? God!" She mumbled under her breath. Robbie placed his cap onto her head and steered her back to the makeshift beds on the floor. Still trailing, I copied their movements by sitting onto the beds. I was in the middle, Rachel on my right and Robbie on my left.

"Love you, Rob."  
"Love you, Rach."

I bit my lip and directed my gaze to the ceiling, wishing somebody would say that to me.

The lights turned off and I lay down onto my back. Rachel had already fallen asleep. Poor thing. She must be exhausted. I turned back to the ceiling.

"Melody?" Robbie whispered. My heart jumped at hearing my name from his mouth.  
"Yes?"  
"How you holding up?"  
"I'm... fine. You?"  
"...Same, I guess."  
"That's good." We fell into a comfortable silence.

"Did your father always treat you like shit?"  
I stiffened, my eyes widening. Moving my body to face him, I asked "What makes you think he treated me bad?"  
He paused before replying: "He called you a liar before. Anybody could see that you were telling the truth from you actions."  
I sighed and thought about my answer for a few seconds. "Yes. Yes, my father treated me like 'shit'. But regardless of that, he was still my father and I still love him." I teared up at the word 'was'.  
"What about your Mom?"  
"My mother died giving birth to me."  
"Oh. I'm sorry."  
"That's okay. It wasn't your fault."  
"So once all of this is over, who are you gonna go back to?"  
He had asked the question, I, myself, had been wondering. I didn't want to think about it. I had nobody left. I didn't know what to do.  
"Melody?" He brought me back to reality.  
"I... I don't know. I don't... I have nobody else to turn to."  
"How old are you?"  
"Sixteen." I wasn't legally allowed to have a place of my own yet.

Robbie didn't reply so I assumed he had fallen asleep. Within a few minutes, I too, had fallen into slumber.

...

A few hours later a weird rustling noise woke me up. I stared at the window watching the tree outside swaying in the wind. Suddenly, a massive blasting sound reverberated and Ray and Robbie jumped up from their sleep. Heart racing, I slowly stood also, staying close to Robbie. All of our breathing was harsh and fast. Everybody was staring at the window and, peeking over Robbie's shoulder, I looked too.

Out of nowhere, the fear and worry hit me hard in the stomach and a whimper escaped my mouth at the pain. Robbie, thinking I was scared - which I was, searched for my hand and I placed it in his clasp. He gave it a small squeeze for which I was grateful. I knew something was about to go down.

More blasts resounded and Rachel rose from her makeshift bed, sleep snatched away from her. "Is the lightening back?"  
"No. This is something else." Ray replied to her. Just as the words escaped his mouth, a high pitched whirring shook the walls and all of us whipped our heads around seeking the source. DIY equipment on the walls vibrated and fell off.

Rachel ran to us and jumped into Robbie's arms causing him to let go of me. Immediately, I missed the warmth of his hand and the comfort it gave me.

Everything was trembling and things were falling off shelves, smashing to pieces by our feet. Other worldly noises hacked at the air and made my jump each time it sounded. I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth, trying to keep the whimpers in. These noises shook my soul. Slowly, I started to back away from the window as did everybody else.

Robbie exclaimed "What's that sound?!"  
"I've never heard that before!" Bellowed Ray.  
"Is it them, is it them?" Cried Rachel.

Explosions made the whole floor jump and I started to press into myself, cowering. My head ached.

"We gotta go! We gotta go! Robbie, this is your house, where do we go?!" Ray shouted, searching for shelter.

"Argh, Um- Um," He whirled around, hunting for a safe place. His eyes lit up at the sight of a door and he towed Rachel towards it. Opening it up, he pushed her down and came back for us. Sighting me; hand to my mouth, cowering, and pressed against a wall, he grabbed me and then Ray and dragged us back to the door.

"No, no, wait, wait!" yelled Ray and grabbed something before following us. An explosion the force of a bomb made the window and wall cave in and debris flew everywhere, narrowly missing us as we made it through the door and down the stairs safely. Fire roared and tried to get to us but Ray slammed the door shut, encasing us all in darkness. "Are we still alive?" whispered Rachel.

All that could be heard was heavy breathing for a few minutes before I collapsed to the floor. "Melody?" I heard Robbie ask. I pushed myself into the smallest ball I could, leaning against the wall. My hands pressed against my ears, all I could hear was the alien noises, and I rocked back and forth as a sob tore through my body. My stomach still ached in agony and I finally let the suffering win as tears cascaded down my cheeks. My head throbbed, feeling as though a horde of elephants had stampeded on it. I was cracking. "Melody."

I was losing it again. I could tell. I was going mad. Insane.

It was too much. And this was just the beginning.

My body trembled and I just couldn't do it anymore, how did everyone else manage to survive this?

 _Alice was beginning to grow very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice, 'without pictures or conversation?'_

 _So she was considering in her mind -_ "Melody!" I jumped out of my reverie. My mind clicked back into place. Robbie was bending over me, a hand on my shoulder, concern splattered all over his face. I looked behind him to see Ray and Rachel standing there, staring at me. I found myself still in a ball, my hands over my ears and tears trailing down my cheeks. Unraveling myself, I grabbed Robbie's hand from it's current position on my shoulder and pulled him down next to me. He sat down back against the wall and I buried myself into his chest, not caring if he thought it weird or anyone was staring at me. I instantly felt better, the stomach pain decreasing, the butterflies replacing it.

I sighed when his arms wrapped around me, holding me closer and he pressed a kiss to the top of my head. "I'm sorry." I mumbled which came out muffled because of his chest. "It's okay, Melody. You're fine, we're fine."

Absent minded, I heard Ray muttering to Rachel and they walked into another corner of the room to give us some privacy.

"Robbie?" I asked quietly.  
"Yeah?"  
"Do you feel it too?"  
"Feel what?"  
"Do you... do you feel what I feel?" He didn't reply so I thought he must have misunderstood, "When we're together? Whenever we touch?"  
I could feel his eyes on me I didn't look up, afraid of the answer. I felt him nod slowly. Relief washed over me, glad that I wasn't the only one. Glad that he felt it too because I didn't know what I'd do if he didn't.  
"Yes."

Looking up at him, I smiled and he smiled back at me. Despite the circumstances, despite having a fit five minutes ago, despite everything, I felt my heart warm. Happiness was rare in these moments so I snatched at it. "Good, because I certainly don't." I said cheekily.  
He laughed in response causing his chest to shake and I shook with it thanks to my body against his. "Oh yeah?" He questioned.  
"Yup!" I said convincingly but my lips hitched up at the corners.  
"Not even if I do this?" And he grabbed my hand and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. Electricity crackled through my veins to my heart, it beat faster and I gasped aloud. Robbie, peeking down at me through his lashes, smirked, satisfied. Glaring at him, I mumbled "Okay, fine. Maybe I do feel it too."  
"I thought so."

There a moment of silence in which we merely jut scanned each other's faces, smiles still in place.

All of a sudden, my eyes started feeling droopy and a yawn escape my mouth. "Go to sleep, Melody." Robbie whispered.  
"Will you still be here when I wake up?"  
"I'm not leaving you." Those four words made me happy.  
"Say it again," I whispered.  
"I'm not leaving you."  
"...I'm holding you to that."

The darkness overcame me.


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN WAR OF THE WORLDS.**

* * *

I woke up to the bright morning light shining on my face. Glancing at my surroundings, I found my head on Robbie's chest and his arms around me. I wasn't sure when she came but Rachel had her head laying in his lap. I smiled softly at the sight. They both looked so innocent.

Tilting my head up to look at Robbie, I brought my hand up and gently brushed it through his hair. He stirred slightly before slowly open his eyes. His mouth lifted at the corners as he looked at me. He reached his hand out and lightly trailed his fingertips against my cheek. I felt a light blush appear on my cheek, looked away and looked back at him.

"Sorry, I woke you up." I murmured.  
"It's fine." His voice was much deeper in the morning and I found myself wanting to hear him speak more.  
"I-"

A tripod blasting in the distance cut me off. We stiffened and looked around.

"Where's Ray?" Rachel had woken up and it was only just then that we noticed his missing presence.  
"Probably left us." Robbie admitted with bitterness coating his voice. A mask of severe dislike hung on his face. This wasn't the Robbie I knew.  
"No. He wouldn't do that." I tried to convince him.  
He moved his gaze to me, his face softening, before responding "You don't know him, Melody."  
"But from what I do know," I said, "He brought you here, instead of abandoning you and saving himself. He's stayed with you the entire trip. He's put himself in danger to keep you safe. And... he loves you." My voice dropped down to a whisper as I tried to persuade him.

Robbie didn't reply, merely scanned me curiously. I felt as though he could see right through my soul with his piercing grey eyes. We were so busy focusing on each other that we didn't realize Ray was back and speaking to Rachel who had stood up. "I told you."

"Eyes only on me okay?" She nodded. "Don't look down, don't look around me. I'm taking you to the car, you're going to want to look but you're not going to. Are you?" Ray spoke.  
"No." she shook her head.

My stomach started to feel queasy. What had happened while we were down here? I glanced at Robbie to see he was watching Rachel. My mind started to drift a little and I forced myself to come back to the present. Not now.

Ray lead the way out of the chamber and I gasped when I saw the demolished basement. Had we remained upstairs we would have died. Once we got outside I started trembling again, shaking so hard my vision blurred. My breathing increased. I was beginning to lose it again when a warm, gentle arm wrapped around my waist, guiding me. Instantly, everything became clearer. I buried my head against Robbie's chest, not wanting to see it anymore, not wanting to view the images of utter destruction. "It's okay." He comforted. It was a lie. Nothing was okay.

Clutching at his shirt, he escorted me to the door of car where I remained standing, waiting. Robbie walked off into the mass of ruined houses and I kept my eyes on him, trying my best not to focus on the landscape of surroundings. He placed his hands on his head in despair. His friends must have lived in these houses. Neighbors. Acquaintances.

My heart panged. I could feel his distress. _"Is this normal?"_ I tried hard not to cry for him, for the pain he was feeling. How would we ever recover?

"Melody, get in the car." Ray called. I looked at him , nodded and got in. He reversed the car and turned it around. "Robbie, get in. Robbie, get in!" He yelled when Robbie didn't respond. Robbie turned around, his face cold. "Get in."

I involuntarily shivered at his expression. He got in and sat down, not speaking. I wanted to help him but sitting in the back of the car, I couldn't do much. So I leaned forward slowly and whispered in his ear "Come sit with me. Please?" He stiffened slightly and nodded. Climbing out of his seat he managed to make it through the small gap between the front seats and planted himself next to me. He then positioned himself laying down, his head in my lap. A small smile creeped onto my face. I ran my hand through his hair.

Without knowing why, without knowing where I got the courage to do it, I started to hum. I could only get the tune, I couldn't remember the words. Nor could I remember where it was from. The whole car grew silent as they listened to my humming. When I came to the end of the tune, I restarted from the beginning but this time Rachel joined in with the lyrics. I began to recognize it now, a faint, distant memory in my head. "A gentle breeze from Hushabye Mountain, softly blows o'er lullaby bay," she sang.

I felt Robbie's eyes on me and I looked down at him as I started to sing too: "It fills the sails of the boats that are waiting - waiting to sail your worries away." Robbie took my hand that was still brushing through his hair. He pressed a kiss to my palm, then interlocked our fingers and placed it above his heart. My affection for him grew.

My other hand made its way to his cheekbone and my fingers lightly traced the outline. He closed his eyes and opened his mouth "It isn't far to Hushabye Mountain and your boats wait down by the quay." he joined. "The winds of night so softly are sighing-"  
"Soon they will fly your troubles to sea." I finished. "So close your eyes on Hushabye Mountain."  
"Wave goodbye to cares of the day," Robbie went on.  
"And watch your boat from Hushabye Mountain," Rachel continued.  
"Sail far away from lullaby bay." the three of us finished.

Silence encased us all. I was too busy smiling down at Robbie who in return was doing the same at me. The crinkles by his eyes, the way his cheeks raised up, his slight dimples, his beautiful teeth. I found myself wishing he would never cease to smile.

"I would clap but I'm little preoccupied trying to drive." Ray broke the silence. We all let out a laugh and tried to enjoy the moment as we most likely wouldn't get more of these opportunity's in future.

Robbie raised his head from my lap and looked out the window. "Why the hell are we on the turnpike?" he asked, turning to Ray.  
"I don't want everybody to see we've got a working car." He went on to describe the route we would take to get to Mary-Ann's parents' houses.  
"Where is everybody?" questioned Rachel.  
"I dunno. Running, hiding, hiding in their basements."  
"If we had any balls, we'd go back, find one of those and kill it." Robbie's voice became spiteful. I started to worry about the meaning behind his words. He wanted to fight. Queasiness in my stomach returned. I squeezed his hand to calm him down but he payed no heed.  
"Thank you, but maybe you should let me handle the big decisions."  
"When will that be, Ray? Never? Never's about your speed."  
I was about to warn Robbie to stop but Ray exploded: "OK, enough of the 'Ray' shit! It's 'Dad,' or 'Sir!' Or if you want, 'Mr. Ferrier.'... That sounds a little weird to me but you decide."

Robbie shut up after that and placed his head back down.

"Dad?" Rachel asked, emphasizing the word 'Dad'.  
"Yes, Rachel?"  
She sighed before answering, "I've got to go to the bathroom."  
Ray glanced at her in disbelief. "Really?"

...

We pulled up in abandoned farmland where no civilization met the eye.

Everybody immediately scrambled for the door but Ray had locked us in "Let us go!" said Robbie.  
"Alright, alright, there's two things you gotta watch out for and the second is people who might want our car."  
"There's nobody around!" he argued.  
"Yeah," agreed Rachel, "I gotta go."

Robbie ran out and turned back waiting for me. "You go on," I said, "I'll be waiting by the car."He shrugged and ran on.

In the distance I could hear Rachel and Ray arguing about where she should go. Sighing, I leaned my back against against the car and surveyed my surroundings. A few minutes later a rumbling noise echoed along a dirt track. Walking over, I identified army tanks going in the same direction we had just left.

My heart skipped a beat when I noticed Robbie shouting and waving his arms for attention from the passers-by. "Robbie!" I called. He payed no heed.

"Stop! Don't move! Wait, stop! Let me on! Let me on, give me a hand!" The soldiers merely stared at him as went on. "Wait! Stop, stop!"  
"Hey, watch it, kid, you're gonna get yourself run over!" yelled one of the soldiers.

Deciding this was enough I ran over to Robbie and grabbed his arm. "Robbie. Robbie, come on!" He glanced at me before looking back at the tanks.  
"You have room! You have room! Let me on!" He continued to scream out more words of persuasion.  
My heart started to hurt. Why was he doing this? He couldn't leave me, he said he wouldn't.  
"Robbie. Please. Robbie, don't go." A few tears escaped my eyes. I didn't like the pain in my chest, the pain in my stomach. "You said you wouldn't leave me." I whispered, my voice breaking. He looked at me and was about to say something when Ray came sprinting towards us.

"Robbie, you want to go in that direction? There is nothing living in that direction!" he bellowed.  
"What do you care? You never gave a shit before! You never gave a shit!" Robbie screamed in response.  
"Okay, hard-ass. You're in charge now? So what's your plan?"  
"We catch up with these soldiers, and we head back there, and we get back at them! We get back at them!" He pointed at the direction of the tanks. He ran a hand through his hair, exasperated.  
"Okay, now come up with a plan that doesn't involve your 10-year-old sister joining the Army! You got anything like that?"  
"Why don't you tell the truth? You don't know where to go! You only chose Boston because you hope Mom is there; You hope she is there, and then you can dump us on her! Then you will only have to care about yourself, which is exactly the way you like it! " The cold Robbie had returned, and I didn't like it, I didn't like this side of him.

I sank to my knees on the ground and let out a sob. I needed Robbie to remain sane for ME to remain sane. If Robbie went mad so would I. My hands flew to my scalp and I pulled at my hair, my head facing my lap. I could feel my clothes sticking to my skin, soaked from the water spraying from the tank wheels.

 _'After a time she heard a little pattering of feet in the distance, and she hastily dried her eyes to see what was coming. It was the White Rabbit to himself as he came, "Oh! the Duchess, the Duchess! Oh! won't she be savage if I've kept her waiting!"'_

Distantly, I could Rachel screeching at Robbie but I was too lost in my mind to care.

 _'_ _Alice felt so desperate that she was ready to ask help of any one; so, when the Rabbit came near her, she began, in a low, timid voice, " If you please, sir ―" The Rabbit started violently, dropped the white kid gloves and the fan, and scurried away into the darkness as hard as he could go.'_

"I'm sorry, Melody. I'm really sorry." His voice brought me back into reality. My head turned up to see him leaning in front of me. His face was covered in guilt and worry for me. He reached out for both my hands which, somehow, were sitting on my lap. _'Weren't they in my hair?'_ I asked myself. He stood up and pulled me up also. I continued to stare at him, feeling betrayed, hurt and lost. A lone tear fell down my cheek.

Letting go of one of my hands, he reached out and brushed the tear away with his thumb, leaving his hand on my cheek.

"You didn't leave." I stated.  
"No." he shook his head.  
I stared at him a moment longer, searching for something - I don't know what. "Good." I replied and pulled him into a hug. Waves of electricity hummed through my body. It happened so quickly, he stiffened at first before relaxing. Our bodies molded together perfectly like two puzzle pieces. I wrapped my arms around his neck as his went around my waist. Burying my face in his chest, I went on to tell him, "You scared me."  
"I know. I'm sorry." He said and he genuinely did sound bad, "I won't do it again." We both knew that was a lie but didn't say it.

We stayed in that position a little while longer when Ray beeped the horn of the car. I had totally forgotten about them. I looked over to see Ray and Rachel staring at us and a blush painted my cheeks. They had seen everything. Even if it wasn't very intimate it was still special to me.

"Come on." said Robbie and towed me towards the car.


End file.
